I’m pretty sure that somebody said that the first rule of inspiration is to be there when it happens, but my skill with Google is insufficient to track such a quote down. Let’s say, I may have been the originator of the sentiment, and if I was, I’m both impressed and disappointed.
It’s true though, isn’t it? Unusual things happen all the time, and usual things happen even more often. But if somebody’s not looking at the right spot in the right light at the exact right moment, it means nothing. It means less than nothing. It certainly isn’t inspiring any paintings or songs or poems or books or… blog posts. Nobody can be inspired if nobody notices.
We’ve been reworking some of the arrangements for the songs going on the EP. Not final arrangements, but something to hand over to the person producing the songs for us, so he has an idea of how they sound, for lack of a better explanation, in my head. If this seems a bit familiar, it may be because I mentioned it here. Some things have changed since then, including one of the songs. A big change has been the experience of reworking the first song with the producer.1 It’s impacting how we think about the rest of the songs, and the demos we did for them no longer seem sufficient.
So one of the songs has changed shape a lot already. But it still wasn’t feeling finished, ready, right. We sat down on Sunday to record some guitar bits for it, and something incredible happened.
“What sound should I put on?” I asked.
“We can worry about that after,” Adam said. And started playing.
But it was too late. I had clicked one of the electric guitar presets because it had “Echo” in the name and, well. Echo.
It was completely different from anything we had tried with this song so far, and somehow, it was exactly the right thing. A few notes and we were… well… inspired.
This changed everything about the track.2 I still get a little bit goosebumpy when I think about what the song is turning into now.3 We needed different drums, the keys needed to come back, and of course the guitar part would be entirely different from what it had been up to this point…
Inspiration is a magical thing. To me it feels like a superpower, but one that anyone can access. Although, in a challenging twist, it’s one that’s very difficult to activate deliberately. Oh, you can cultivate a sense of awe or wonder about the universe, adopt an attitude of curiosity, practice mindfulness, and be receptive to inspiration when it comes, but if you sit down and really look for it, you’re fairly likely to find absolutely nothing.
Maybe it would be helpful to explain exactly what I’m talking about when I say inspiration. And while I thought that was pretty simple, turns out it may not be the easiest thing to convey. Basically, when I talk about inspiration, I’m talking about a spark. In inhospitable conditions it may barely register as something that could have become more before it’s gone, but in the right conditions, it flares up and sets your mind alight. It doesn’t have to be musical, it doesn’t even have to be artistic, it’s just something that triggers creative thought.
My thoughts on this matter, as on so many other matters, are heavily influenced by rather a lot of time spent (mentally) inside Terry Pratchett’s Discworld universe.
“Particles of raw inspiration sleet through the universe all the time. Every once in a while one of them hits a receptive mind, which then invents DNA or the flute sonata form or a way of making light bulbs wear out in half the time. But most of them miss. Most people go through their lives without being hit by even one.
“Some people are even more unfortunate. They get them all.”
-Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters
I think Terry Pratchett was one of those who got all the inspirations, and if it was unfortunate for him, the rest of us sure got lucky.4
Me, I get hit by the occasional inspiration. Way too often in the shower where paper and writing implements are rarely to hand. But I don’t trust it. I’m forever thinking “This sounds really good, I must not have made it up.” Or, “That’s catchy, I guess I’ve heard it before.” Over time, when no reasonable points of comparison emerge, I let myself get attached to my work.
But not that first bit about the first rule of inspiration, that was definitely someone else.
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1 Not finished yet, but a lot of that first song is, very excitingly, ready to go.
2 I mean, not everything. It’s still the same lyrics, melody, chords. But I’m sure you get the idea.
3 This is not finished yet either.
4 If you haven’t, go read a Pratchett book. Your life will be richer for it.